Salute To High School Graduates

When I graduated from high school I got a call from my uncle who lived in a fairly large city.  He wanted me to come stay with him for the summer and he already had a well paying job all set up for me.  When I asked him what it entailed, he said, “All you have to do is ride shotgun on the truck and tell the workers where and when to spread oil on the roads.  It pays $10 an hour.”  I thought about that for about five seconds and told my uncle, “Gee.  Thanks a lot Uncle Del, but I already have a job lined up for the summer.”  I hung up the phone and then went out an got a job at a hamburger stand for $1.00 an hour.  

What happened?  I was afraid I would fail.  As a result, instead of making a lot of money in the summer to help me pay for college, I played it safe and made very little.  The bottom line is this:  I lacked confidence in myself.

How do we develop confidence?  Much of this comes with life experience; however, the Bible gives us the answer that we need.  The Apostle Paul, in Philippians 4:13 gives us this advice:  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  

When we find ourselves facing tough decisions on what to do in life, take time to pray about it and ask Christ to guide you to make the right decision, and then to give you strength and confidence to do it. 

You are not alone.  God will help you.  May God give you the courage and confidence to go forth and  make a difference in the world.

What Is Maundy Thursday?

What is Maundy Thursday and why do churches celebrate it?

Maundy Thursday is also known as,  "Holy Thursday."  It is the day before Good Friday.  Good Friday is the day before Easter.  All of this happens during, "Holy Week," which is the last week of the life of Jesus.  

Maundy Thursday commemorates what we refer to as, "The Last Supper."  Jesus shared the "Passover Meal" on the night before He was crucified.  The "Passover Meal" refers to the celebration of all Jews who remember when Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and eventually into the promised land of Caanan.  In response to the last of 10 plagues in which the "destroyer," would kill the first born child, the Israelites were told that if they would place blood on the door post, the "destroyer," would pass over them and no blood would be shed.  Thus the term, "Passover."

 Jesus sat at the able with His 12 apostles.  One would betray Him, and that was Judas.  One would deny Him, and that was Peter.  The other ten fled for fear of their life.  During this time, the Bible records that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it and said, "This is my body which is given to you.  Eat this as often as you do in remembrance of Me."  In the same manner, He took the cup and said, "This is the New Covenant in My blood.  Drink this as often as you do in remembrance of Me."  Thus, this has become how the Church celebrates that occassion by referring to it as, "Communion," the "Eucharist," or simply the, "Lord's Supper."

The word, "Maundy," comes from the Latin word for, "command." This word used on Maundy Thursday refers to the command that Jesus gave to His apostles and disciples that they should love one another.  

If everyone in the world observed this command, what a wonderful world we would have.  

Memory Enhancement

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. 

Hebrews 9:27

We apparently have no choice about when God has made this appointment; however, we do have a choice about our quality of life before that time comes.  

Our genes determine 25% of what happens to us.  That leaves 75% to determine the life style changes we can make to change our life.  

In the latest research from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the following eight variables will clearly help in developing appropriate and healthy life style changes we all need to make.

1  Get regular exercise which is your best memory booster.  

2  Protect your heart and your brain.  Try to lower your blood pressure.

3  Get a good night’s sleep every night.  Try to get 7 hours if you can.

4  Eat a diet that builds “brain health.”

5  Be aware of alcohol consumption.

6  Be aware of certain medications that may impact memory.

7  Keep your mind sharp with mental activities.

8  Try to manage stress effectively.

What Is Lent?

You hear people talking about lent this time of the year in many churches but just what is lent all about?  What does it mean?

The word, "lent," comes from the Anglo-Saxon word, "lencten," which basically means the time of the year when the days grown longer.

Lent officially begins on Ash Wednesday and continues for 40 days until finishing up on Easter.  If you took a calculator and tried to figure out the 40 days you would come up with the wrong figure.  You have to subtract every Sunday because each Sunday is considered to be a "miniature Easter."  Thus, you calculate the 40 days minus Sundays.

Lent has its origins somewhere between the 6th and 8th century.  Originally, the idea was that a Christian, as a sign of repentance, would sprinkle ashes on his or her head.  In the Bible, ashes symbolize humility, mortality, fasting and remorse.  A person who sinned and felt remorse would sprinkle ashes on their head as a sign of repentance and sorrow.  

Ashes reminds us that we are mortal and eventually we will die.  At gravesite services, the pastor will usually say something in regard to dust to dust and ashes to ashes.  

Over time, instead of sprinkling ashes on a person's head, the ashes were instead rubbed into the forehead in the shape of a cross as a reminder of repentance and baptism.  Eventually, many churches gave up this practice.  The importance is what goes on in your heart.  

Why does it consist of 40 days?  That is because after Jesus was baptized, the Bible tells us that Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and to experience being tempted by the devil throughout this 40 day period.  

During the 40 days of Lent, we are think about our own troubles and temptations we go through and repent.  It is a time for us to receive God's forgiveness and to receive the power of the Holy Spirit  to give us strength and spiritual renewal to lead the Christian Life.  

Does Time Really Heal All Wounds?

Does time heal?  For some people it may indeed be true.  Some people swear by it.  

However, I believe that time heals nothing.  We learn to accept that which we cannot change.  

How long does it take to accept?  Six months, one year, three years?  

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was a Swiss Psychiatrist who wrote a very well known book in 1969, called "On Death and Dying." In the book she outlined five stages that people go through when they go through the process of death.  

Stage one:  Denial - Reality is hard to face and the first reaction is generally denial that this could actually be happening.  "There must be some mistake, doctors missed something."

Stage two:  Anger - Once denial can no longer be used as a defense, anger comes in, "why is this happening to me?  It's not fair.  How could God let this happen?"

Stage three:  Bargaining - There is still hope that somehow the individual can overcome this.  "Let me live God and I'll serve you forever."  

Stage four:  Depression - When the person eventually realizes that denial and bargaining is not going to work they begin to understand the certainty of death.  "I'm so sad, why do anything.  I'm going to die soon so what is the point?"

Stage five:  Acceptance - Individuals finally come to grips with their mortality.  "It's going to be okay.  I can't fight it so I might as well prepare for it.

Later Dr. Kubler Ross, through further research, expanded these five stages to include not just death, but also all traumas.  

The question that I would like for you, as you read this, to try and come to terms with is this:  "How long is it going to take between depression and acceptance?"  Six months, one year, three years, ten years?  

In order to heal anything we first have to understand it.  Healing and curing are two different things.  Curing is a medical term.  Healing is a spiritual term and it is an active process.  It is not a passive one.  As Americans, we do not always want to make the effort to get better, rather we just want to feel better now.  Feeling better is a passive process,via drugs, trying to block things out of our mind, refusing to talk about it, etc.  Getting better is an active process where we participate in the healing process.  If you are waiting for time to do its work, you are going to be in for a very long wait.  

When I was a little boy I would sometimes cut myself.  My mother would always give me a lecture first on why I should be more careful.  She then would take water and soap and clean the wound carefully.  She would put some type of salve on it and then apply a band aid.  

What would happen if she didn't clean the wound?  It might taken longer, could cause an infection, but it would eventually close and likely leave a scar. 

When we experience a wound to our heart, or our soul, it feels like being torn apart.  Sometimes it even feels like we are bleeding inside.  Eventually, the bleeding will stop and the wound closes.  However, what is it we have closed up?  Have we truly healed the wound or have we simply closed up anger, hurt, regret, and remorse inside?  If we have not healed the wound, some people will experience "weeping wounds" which doctors and nurses describe as a wound that doesn't heal because of some type of noxious fluids that fester and ooze out.  How many weeping wounds can a person suffer before their whole system is contaminated.  

The Greek word for "trauma" is wound.  A wound that is not healed will fester.  Almost all philosophers believe we will die without ever healing our wounds.  

The Bee Gees believed that you cannot mend a broken heart.  You can't stop the rain from falling and you can't stop the sun from shining.  Dolly Parton sings Silver threads and golden needles can't mend a broken heart.  They are all probably right.  We may not be able to mend a broken heart but God can.  

The 23rd Psalm provides us with some answers.  Look at the first three verses: 

"The Lord is my shepherd.  I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul."

How does God restore our soul?  He makes us lie down in green pastures.  Green pastures refers to the bread of life which is Jesus Christ.  He leads us beside the still waters.  Still waters is the opposite of troubled waters.  He restores our soul.

God knows we go through troubled times and become anxious and depressed but God also wants us to be restored to a life of joy.  He wants us to slow down and know that He is with us.  He wants us to allow Jesus to touch and heal every hurt and wound that we may have closed up rather than allowed to heal.  

In ancient times, healing meant to be whole, which meant that if a person became sick they would not be whole anymore.  Something has happened that has broken our wholeness and disease has come into our body.  Something will have to be done, actively not passively, as time has nothing to do with healing.  

In pain management, you are taught to relax your muscles or wherever the pain is.  If you tighten up, the pain will obviously get worse the more you resist it.  Allow the pain to be present.  When you breathe deeply and become more aware of the pain, there is room for it to move and flow through you more easily.  Pain is there to tell us something is wrong whether it is physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual.  To become whole, means being open to our pain and our losses.  We include those things that would have been forever lost and not recognized as needing to be healed if we had not taken the time to heal.  One of my favorite singers is Carly Simon who touches on this with her wonderful song, "There's More Room In A Broken Heart."  

Time does not heal.  However, healing does take some time.  Let God help you through the process.  That's one of the things He does best.  

Stuck In LoDebar

In 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival released the "Green River" album.  One of the songs on that album was called, "Lodi."  It was written by John Fogerty and was one of the most popular songs Creedence Clearwater Revival ever performed that never made it to the Top 40.  It was also on the "B" side of the single, "Bad Moon Rising."  The reason the group loved this song so much was because of how much they hated being stuck in Lodi.  The first part of the lyrics give us a good idea what they meant.  

          "Just about a year ago, I set out on the road.
           Seekin' my fame and fortune, looking' for a pot of gold.
           Things got bad, and things got worse, I guess you will
           know the tune.
           Oh!  Lord, stuck in Lodi again."

In the 9th chapter of II Samuel, is the story of LoDebar.  LoDebar

is a place you might call between nowhere and goodby.  It literally

means, "The land of nothing."  A land of low hopes and shattered

dreams.  A place you can go to hide and no one will know you are

even alive.  

David's best friend was Jonathan.  Jonathan knew that his father, King Saul, was going to try and kill David and that things were going to get ugly.  Thus, they made a covenant with each other that no matter what happened they would always be friends and that their families would be taken care of.  Not much later, King Saul and Jonathan were killed and the house of Saul was terrified that David would destroy all of King Saul's family members.  A nurse taking care of Jonathan's five year old son, Mephibosheth, tried to run and hide but fell and dropped him.  His legs were broken and paralyzed.  The boy was taken to a place that no one who would look for him.  LoDebar.

Years passed by and David remembered the covenant he made with Jonathan and discovers that he has a crippled son.  He sends for the boy and when Mephibosheth is brought to him he falls on his face.  David asks him, "Are you the son of my good friend Jonathan?"  When he says, "yes," he is asked to get up.  David tells the boy he is not going to hurt him but rather is going to restore to him all the land of his grandfather, King Saul, and that he will eat at David's table all the days of his life.  Mephibosheth looks at David and says, "Why should my king look upon such a dead dog as me?"

Have you ever felt worthless?  Believing to be of no value?  Are you stuck in LoDebar?  Do you have lost hopes and shattered dreams?  Mephibosheth believed he was less than worthless, less than a dead dog.  When you are crippled physically or emotionally and have no dreams; when you have nothing, there's nothing to lose.  You're stuck in LoDebar.  But now Mephibosheth is in the presence of the king.  

God invites you to sit at His table today.  To come out of the wilderness.  To come out of LoDebar and sit at His table.  There is nothing that has happened to us in this life that cannot be healed by our great King, the King of Kings.  Open up your heart and come to His table.  Don't stay stuck.  Come out of LoDebar.  

When A Child Dies

What happens when a child dies?  What happens when you and many others pray for God to save your child and your child still dies?  How do you deal with that?  Do you lose your faith?  Does your faith become stronger?  What happens? 

The Bible gives us answers to these questions.  The Bible tells us the story of David.  David is described as a "man after God's own heart."  God loved David very much.  The first child that David had with Bathsheba became gravely ill.  The Bible says that, "David pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground."  

David's servants tried to get him up from the ground and feed him but David refused.  David is so upset that his servants are afraid that David will do something to himself.  For seven days, David pleads with God to save his son.  On the seventh day, the child dies and the servants are afraid to tell David.  

However, David overhears the servants talking and perceives that his child was dead, and asks them if the child died and they said yes.  David then rose from the ground, washed up, worshipped God, and requested food to eat.  The servants are totally confused.  They said to David, "You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and ate food."  

David told the servants, "While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live.'  "But now he is dead; why should I fast?  Can I bring him back again?  I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."

What David is saying is this:  When our loved one dies, whether it be a baby, sibling, parent, grandparent, that it's ok if God did not grant us our prayer that they would live.  We will go to them when it is our time.  We will see them again in the next life.  Not to worry.  We'll see them again.  Amen.